World ablaze with light as Scotland shows how to welcome in 2014

EDINBURGH rocked as the world’s biggest New Year Party went off with a bang.

As the clock struck midnight, a huge fireworks display from Edinburgh Castle and Calton Hill began [PA]

Around 80,000 revellers were in the city centre to enjoy a welcome break in the stormy weather for the Hogmanay street party.

Tickets for the party were bought from more than 60 countries including Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan and the US.

Pet Shop Boys headlined the Concert in the Gardens with guests The 1975 and Nina Nesbitt, while the street party had music on three stages, with performers like Django Django and King Creosote.

Four stages set up along Princes Street turned the city centre into what organisers called “the world’s largest dancefloor”.

The traditional outdoor ceilidh on the Mound Precinct, with music from Scottish bands including Hugh MacDiarmid’s Haircut, Box Fizz and Black Rose Ceilidh, drew thousands more.

The eyes of the world were on Edinburgh as more than a billion people tuned in to TV coverage for 150 countries.

As the clock struck midnight, a huge fireworks display from Edinburgh Castle and Calton Hill began.

Earlier, fireworks marked 2014 as the year of Scotland’s Homecoming with a display at 20:14 and others at 9pm, 10pm and 11pm.

Tickets for the party were bought from more than 60 countries including Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan and the US

The evening’s events are part of a three-day celebration in the city which began with a torchlight procession through the centre of Edinburgh on Monday night and includes the loony dook in the Forth today.

In Glasgow, pipers, drummers and dancers performed at the city’s “Hogmanayday” between midday and 10pm, also marking the city’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games, featuring African drumming, Indian dancing, Caribbean music and Scottish ceilidh music.

In Stirling more than 5,000 attended an outdoor party at Stirling Castle Esplanade, headlined by Deacon Blue, and featuring singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean.

A special Homecoming Hogmanay fireworks sequence took place above Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument at 20:14, as well as in Inverness and Edinburgh, and there was a further display above Stirling Castle at the bells.

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Simple Minds headlined an Open Air in the Square event in the Aberdeenshire town of Stonehaven, where the traditional fireball-swinging procession also took place.

First Minister Alex Salmond said the events were a “special welcome” to 2014 when the eyes of the world would be on Scotland.

Auckland in New Zealand was one of the first to kick off the festivities as midnight arrived and more than 1.5 million people were around Australia’s Sydney Harbour for their famous display. Dubai tried to smash a world record by setting off 450,000 fireworks.

Other amazing displays were staged in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.